Investing.com - The dollar turned lower against the other major currencies on Friday, after the release of disappointing U.S. jobs data dampened optimism over the strength of the labor market and sparked uncertainty over a potential rate hike before the end of the year.
EUR/USD gained 0.38% to at 1.1240, after falling to session lows of 1.1163.
The U.S. Labor Department said the economy added 151,000 jobs in August, disappointing expectations for an increase of 180,000. The number of jobs created increased by 275,000 in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 255,000 gain.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.9% this month, confounding expectations for a downtick to 4.8%.
The report also showed that average hourly earnings rose 0.1% in August, below expectations for a 0.2% increase and after a 0.3% gain the previous month.
The weak data dampened expectations for a near-term rate hike, as Federal Reserve officials recently indicated that the pace of interest rate increases will be data dependent.
On a more positive note, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $39.47 billion in July from $44.66 billion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $44.50 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to marrow to $42.70 billion in July.
GBP/USD advanced 0.41% to a fresh one-month high of 1.3324.
Research group Markit said on Friday thats its U.K. construction purchasing managers’ index rose to 49.2 in August from 45.9 the previous month, beating expectations for an increase to 46.1.
The data came a day after Markit said its U.K. manufacturing PMI rose to a 10-month high this month, easing concerns over a potential economic slowdown in the U.K. following the June 23 vote to leave the European Union.
USD/JPY eased 0.09% to trade at 103.516, after hitting five-week highs of 104.01 on Thursday, while USD/CHF slid 0.30% to 0.9771.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars moved higher, with AUD/USD up 0.53% at 0.7589 and with NZD/USD climbing 0.67% to 0.7338.
Elsewhere, USD/CAD dropped 0.56% to trade at 1.3027, off Thursday’s three-week peak of 1.3149.
Also Friday, Statistics Canada said the country’s trade deficit narrowed to C$2.49 billion in July from C$3.97 billion in June, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of C$3.63 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to hit C$3.25 billion in July.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.32% at 95.32, the lowest since August 26.